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Indian actress and dancer Zohra Sehgal dies

The Associated Press

Updated:
07/11/2014 04:15:16 AM EDT

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FILE ? In this undated file photo, Indian actress and dancer Zohra Sehgal reacts as she cuts her birthday cake in New Delhi, India. Sehgal, who charmed viewers with her impish grin and twinkling eyes, has died of heart failure in New Delhi at age 102. (AP Photo/Press Trust of India) INDIA OUT

Sehgal started out in the 1930s as a dancer. She performed with a troupe led by Uday Shankar, the pioneer of modern Indian dance. Her travels around the world with the group were unusual for an Indian woman of her generation.

In the 1940s she joined a theater group in Mumbai and eventually started acting in films. Even though she performed cameo parts, she always made her presence felt. She was part of Bollywood blockbusters like "Hum Dil Chuke Sanam," or "I Have Given My Heart," and "Kal Ho Naa Ho," or "Whether Tomorrow Comes or Not."

She also acted in films like "Bend It Like Beckham," and "Bhajji on the Beach," made by British-Indian filmmaker Gurinder Chaddha.

Her last film was the Bollywood saga "Saawariya," or "Beloved," in 2007.